Greg Oden left the Rose Garden floor on a stretcher after going down with an apparent knee injury.
Greg Oden went down with a left knee injury during the Blazers game on Saturday night at the Rose Garden Arena. Coach Nate McMillan (ruptured achilles), Nic Batum (shoulder), Rudy Fernandez (back), Travis Outlaw (foot)... this is getting ridiculous.

Oden suffered the injury, was on the floor for seven minutes, left on a stretcher and was taken to the ortho clinic in the Rose Quarter, where an MRI confirmed a fractured left patella.

Oden will undergo surgery. He's likely gone for the season, and right now I'm less worried about the broken patella than I am about Oden's will being fractured.

Oden came so far in the last few months, and then he went up to block Aaron Brooks, landed, and immediately crumpled to the floor. He didn’t appear to twist or turn it. It just went. He was taken off the court in a stretcher, after writhing in pain for several minutes.

Anyone remember how Bill Murray got himself out of that Groundhog Day thing?

I don't know where this stops for this guy... or this team... it's tough all over. But what doesn't kill you... oh nevermind. Just hope the guy takes the good progress he made in the early part of this season and finds it in himself to push through the injury, the surgery and rehabilitation --- yet again.

I was encouraged with what Oden done and where this was all headed. I still believe he was the right pick for the Blazers when they drafted him all those injuries ago. He still needed to develop his left hand, and the confidence was growing, but his offseason work with assistant Bill Bayno and the double-doubles Oden posted made you believe this was going somewhere very encouraging.

Oden, who was averaging 11.7 points and 8.8 rebounds, missed his entire rookie season after undergoing microfracture surgery on his right knee. Last season, he sat out 20 total games with two different injuries (right foot and a bone chip in his left knee).

Now, this.

Said Oden on Saturday post-injury: "I'm obviously disappointed having worked so hard to get where I was. This is a setback, but I'll be back."

The Blazers didn't have enough players to run a full practice last week, which is why McMillan ended up in a drill with an achilles that ultimately wouldn't cooperate. Oden is gone, too, now and I suppose a lot of teams would fold up right about now and start postponing their hopes.

This will undoubtedly bring back the "Sam Bowie" chorus from around the country. No matter how unfair, until Oden makes a full season --- or five --- without significant injury, that talk isn't going to stop.

What will Portland do now?

It's become the question to ask today.

I see so many teams manufacture "Us vs. The World" scenarios that are designed to give them an emotional lift. I'm wondering if the Blazers don't have an "Us vs. Bad Luck" issue brewing that could serve as a unifying moment for a team that badly needs to get together.

Feels like we're not far off from the franchise holding an open tryout, doesn't it? This, after everything was coming together too cleanly, too quickly for the organization. General manager Kevin Pritchard, and assistant GM Tom Penn will now have to manufacture a move to bring talent between now and February's trade deadline if the Blazers want to be a serious postseason player in 2009-2010.

Yo, Chris Dudley?

You want to run for governor or back-up power forward?

We've been told all along that the team's depth was its best ally. And we've watched this team struggle to come together all season, including the addition of free agent guard Andre Miller. They've found some cohesion at moments, but never for an extended stretch. And so here they are... with the locker room whittled down to a few determined guys who will have to play additional minutes.

Oden is out, again.

That's the rub here, isn't it? I'm less concerned with the Blazers right now than I am with Oden, who deserved better. Couldn't feel worse for a guy who worked so hard to bring himself so far back. And I'm thinking those who stood and gave him a standing ovation as he was wheeled out of the Rose Garden agree.

I suppose the easy part is wrapping your head around the idea of Oden being injured. As fans, you've been here before. As a player, Oden's been here before. His teammates? Ditto

It's not funny. It's no joke. Injuries never are. But I can't blame Blazers fans who heard the awful news, then buried their faces in their hands and tried to laugh when all they felt like doing was crying.